It’s been officially confirmed that staff at St Luke’s Hospital who haven’t been vaccinated yet will have to wait until their colleagues have had their second jab.
KCLR understands that up to half of all the healthcare workers at the local hospital for Carlow Kilkenny, including some nurses on Covid wards, will be waiting until at least the middle of February before they get their first jab.
A statement from the Ireland East Hospital Group says the current focus is to vaccinate the most vulnerable elderly patients in nursing homes and when more becomes available after that they will first go toward those requiring a second dose to complete their vaccination course.
It says the HSE is acknowledging the disappointment of staff who have yet to receive the vaccine but the shortage of supply is their principal challenge.
The Justice Minister Helen McEntee told KCLR Live earlier that everyone’s working very hard to made sure shortfalls like the one at St Luke’s don’t happen but she insists that the issues will be ironed out in time when enough vaccine becomes available.